UN envoy says that UK is ‘in violation of international law’ over poverty levels

Photograph: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

Drastic levels of poverty in the UK are ‘simply not acceptable’, as stated by the United Nations’ poverty envoy, Oliver De Schutter, ahead of his visit to the country this week where he will urge ministers to increase spending on welfare.

De Schutter cited research demonstrating that universal credit payments of £85 per week for single adults over 25 were ‘grossly insufficient’, going on to describe the UK’s main welfare system as ‘a leaking bucket’.

He said: “It’s simply not acceptable that we have more than a fifth of the population in a rich country such as the UK at risk of poverty today…the policies in place are not working or not protecting people in poverty, and much more needs to be done for these people to be protected.”

His remarks follow law professor and former UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Phillip Alston’s report into poverty in the UK, where he said; “much of the glue that has held British society together since the second world war has been deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos”.

Source:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/05/uk-poverty-levels-simply-not-acceptable-says-un-envoy-olivier-de-schutter